DreamsCom Returns For 2021!

Hello, CoMmunity!

Last year, we held the first-ever DreamsCom: a coMmunity convention dedicated to showing off a ton of the brilliant creators and creations in the Dreamiverse. We thought it turned out to be a pretty fun experience - and you seemed to agree! Classic us, being on the same page with stuff.

So, yes: DreamsCom returns this year! We’re thrilled to be doing this again, and we’re determined to make this year’s show even better than the last. You can expect even more to watch, read, create and get involved in.

‘But wise and good-looking people of Media Molecule!’, we hear you cry. ‘How will I know where to start when browsing the show floor and in-game playlists?’ It’s an excellent (and flattering) question, and one that we’ve anticipated. This year, we’re doing things a little differently: we’ll be bringing you multiple days of official DreamsCom coverage live on stream, courtesy of our new editorial brand The Impsider. We’ll be kicking off proceedings with a livestream, in which we’ll give you an advance look at the week of DreamsCom broadcasts ahead, on Tuesday 27th July at 5PM BST via our Twitch channel(opens in new tab).

The very next day, on Wednesday 28th July, we’ll open up the DreamsCom ‘21 show floor, which is - you guessed it - entirely #MadeInDreams! Like last year, you’ll be able to wander about the halls and visit creators’ booths to check out all the amazing stuff you’ve seen on stream for yourself. The expo will run until Monday 2nd August to give you plenty of time to look around, admire everybody’s handiwork, and snap a bunch of silly photos.

From Wednesday 28th until Friday 30th July, you can tune in to our Twitch channel to catch us playing and chatting about some of the DreamsCom creations we’re most excited about, as part of The Impsider’s extended DreamsCom coverage. We’ll also be running developer sessions in which we interview dreamers about their work, their creative inspirations, and possibly even their favourite type of biscuit if we start running out of grown-up questions. Hopefully this should give DreamsCom visitors a few ideas for what they might like to check out first at the expo!

After all, we’re hoping that - like last year - it’s going to be packed to the rafters with bright, brilliant booths… made by YOU! This is your open invitation to exhibit at DreamsCom 2021 by customising a booth to represent your in-development projects or in-Dreams studios on the show floor.

Fancy becoming an exhibitor? We’ve made it simple for you: we’ve released a remixable booth template into the Dreamiverse, and it’s available in-game right now. You can also find the template in Dreams by searching ‘DreamsCom 21 Booth Template’. You’ll be able to customise it to your liking to really represent what kind of creator you are. We’ve also provided an Mm-created collection of fun and ‘conventional’ - get it? - props to include, if you’d like something to get your creative juices flowing.

There’s a handy guide to follow, too, so that together we can ensure we create the best possible experience for all our DreamsCom visitors. Read on if you’re planning to submit a booth!

DreamsCom 2021 Content and Technical Specifications#

Keep in mind that if your booth doesn’t abide by the following content and technical specifications, we won’t be able to include it on the show floor.

First up, a big one - the content of your booth must be yours. That means you must not use other people’s IP (head here for a quick explainer on what 'IP' means(opens in new tab)). It must also adhere to our CoMmunity Guidelines.

Booth basics#

Thermometer limits for your booth:

10% gameplay

10% graphics

10% audio

Before you create anything in your booth, make sure you are scoped into the Booth Template Group. Similar to the All Hallows Dreams' room templates, the booths will be moved into position using teleporters, so anything not placed inside the Booth Template Group will not automatically snap into position!

If you've already started placing stuff on your template without scoping in, fear not - you can simply double-tap to select everything, then deselect the booth group. Finally, grab these objects, and while holding , you should hover over the booth group and press +, which will add the objects.

Puppet#

We're also changing the puppet this time round - while Blank Puppet (Deluxe) will always have a special place in our hearts, for DreamsCom ‘21 we're opting for the Blank Sliding Platformer Puppet. This means if you want to test your booth and know how it will feel in the actual event, you can simply navigate to the Gadgets/Gameplay Gear menu, open the Blank Puppet Collection, drop the aforementioned platformer puppet into the booth and have a run around. Please remember to remove the puppet before you save!

Booth dimensions#

This year, the dimensions of your booth are represented by a hidden ruler gadget located within the main Booth Template Group, which can be made visible by choosing the Hide tool from the Tools menu. You must leave the ruler gadget in your booth, but you may hide it again using the Hide tool. For clarity, the DreamsCom 2021 booth dimensions are 10.5m x 6m x 7m.

Anything you create for your booth must be placed entirely within these limits! Nothing you place in your booth can extend beyond the limits provided. This includes any object which moves outside of your booth using logic, animation, or other means. Paintings should be kept inside of the booth even when they're tweaked to duplicate, so settings such as Around Camera are off-limits. Gadget zones, such as those of trigger zones, must be kept inside the limits of the booth too.

This year you may remove the supports from the booth template and create your own custom space, but you must ensure the puppet is not able to move vertically beyond the limits shown in the ruler gadget. Feel free to have multiple floors in your booth if you choose! All we are looking for in the final booth is that the original base sculpt contained in the template group (the big white cuboid) remains part of your final booth. You are welcome to tweak the visuals of the base sculpt, but it must be in line with the rest of the specifications in this guide.

Moveable sculpts and paint#

You may add moveable sculpts and puppets to your booth - however, due to the way we've incorporated booth positioning logic, you will need to ensure each and every moveable object in the booth is connected to the base sculpt in the booth group. To accomplish this, while scoped inside the booth group, you should navigate to Gadgets/Connectors and select String. Place the first end of the string on the base sculpt, and the second one on your moveable object. Feel free to test your moveable object at this point and make sure it still moves as you expected it to. If so, you're good to go!

Feel free to use physical paint inside your booth, but do not add excessive amounts of physicality as this may affect the frame rate of the halls. Also, please ensure the physical paint does not move outside of the boundaries of the booth!

Logic and gadgets#

Your booth shouldn't contain logic which alters the gameplay of the scene it will be placed in - so gadgets such as checkpoints, prize bubbles, global settings, variables, and variable modifiers are not permitted. Your booth may not contain health managers or health modifiers as they may affect the puppet. Emitters and destroyers are also not permitted due to the potential impact of duplicated objects on the frame rate and the booth itself.

You may use rumblers in your booth if you choose, but similarly to the All Hallows' Dreams rooms, they must only be activated when the puppet is within the boundaries of your booth, and you should only use rumblers where it makes sense for them to be activated. Lastly, you may use force appliers in your booth, and you may use them to affect the puppet - but they may not force the puppet out of the booth at high speeds. They may also not move the puppet vertically beyond the limits shown by the hidden ruler gadget.

The booth you create may include a maximum of five light gadgets, but you must ensure they do not cast light outside of your booth - just add lighting to what you have created! Similarly, you may add a maximum of 40% glow to paintings or sculpts within your booth, as long as the emitted light doesn't extend beyond the boundaries of the booth. To make this simpler (assuming you don't want your sculpt to emit light), you can tweak the glowing sculpt or painting and set the Emit Light From Glow setting to 'Never' on sculpts, or disable the Emit Light From Glow setting on paintings.

Within the Booth Template Group you will also find a Booth Lighting Preview microchip. Inside this, you may enable the switch - this will activate a set of gadgets which will show how your booth will appear when placed inside a DreamsCom hall. Before you submit your booth, please make sure that the Booth Lighting Preview switch is disabled, or the entire Booth Lighting Preview microchip is removed completely.

In this microchip, you will probably notice that we have our own ideas for how the DreamsCom halls will look. Please do not add any gadgets that will affect the visuals of entire scenes, including Sun & Sky gadgets and Grade & Effects gadgets!

The booth may not include cameras or any gadgets which affect the player camera, such as camera shakers, camera pointers, and wipers.

Text and audio#

You may add text displayers to your booth! Please ensure, however, that the text is set to be In Scene (you can find this in the Settings tab). The Always On Top setting may not be enabled, however you may use the Face Camera setting as long as the text is not able to rotate outside of the booth dimensions.

Audio placed in your booth must only be heard within the dimensions of your booth. You may approach this by adding a trigger zone which enables the audio within your booth, or you may use 3D Panning on every sound and instrument contained within your booth so it is not audible outside. Feel free to experiment using extra booths placed parallel to your booth and a Blank Sliding Platformer Puppet to walk around. If you can rotate the camera while in another booth and still hear audio from another booth, then you need to tweak the 3D Panning settings on the sounds and instruments located within the booth. Furthermore, please ensure that the sounds in your booth are not too loud - consider using the tracks contained within Mm Music for loudness comparison, and tweak your volume levels accordingly.

No doors, please!#

Lastly, as we are showcasing your project demos a little differently this year, make sure you don't add any doorways into your booth!

You’ve got until Friday 18th June to submit your finished booth - you can do so using our special submissions tool.

Who’s hype for DreamsCom '21? We sure are, and we hope you are too. We can’t wait to see you all there!